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AEG-1 expression characteristics in human non-small cell lung cancer and its relationship with apoptosis

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Abstract

Expression of astrocyte-elevated gene-1 (AEG-1), a novel oncoprotein, has been shown to promote cell growth and inhibit apoptosis, but the underlying molecular mechanisms and its functional significance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain to be elucidated. In the present study, statistical analysis displayed a significant correlation of AEG-1 expression with clinical staging (P = 0.048), differentiation (P = 0.019) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.032). Simultaneously, the overall survival time in patients with higher AEG-1 expression was obviously shorter than that in patients with lower expression of AEG-1 (P < 0.001). Furthermore, we found that AEG-1 could inhibit apoptotic cell death in L-78 cells, as assessed by MTT, TUNEL and flow cytometry assay. After treating L-78 cells with AEG-1 siRNA, caspase-3 protein was significantly up-regulated and Bcl-2 protein was markedly decreased in L-78 cells, which was verified by the immunohistochemistry results about AEG-1, caspase-3 and Bcl-2. Furthermore, PI3K p110 protein and phosphorylated Akt were also largely attenuated by the treatment of AEG-1 siRNA. In conclusion, our results indicated that AEG-1 played a crucial role in the carcinogenesis of NSCLC and could inhibit apoptosis via activating cell survival signaling (enhancing the level of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and the activation of PI3K/Akt pathway).

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Foundation of China National Natural Science (30900650/H1615), Foundation of China National Natural Science (81172232/H1615), Foundation of Guangdong Natural Science (9451008901002146), the Fund for the Preceptorial Program of Higher Education, China, Grant number: 20090171120070, and Guangzhou science and technology program[2010]122010u1-E00621.

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest in this scientific work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhongshan 2nd Road 58, Guangzhou, 510080, Province Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Zun-fu Ke, Shuhua Li & Lian-tang Wang

  2. Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, Province Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaopeng Mao

  3. Department of Pathology, Guang Dong Medical College, Dongguan, 523808, People’s Republic of China

    Cao Zeng

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, Province Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Shanyang He

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  1. Zun-fu Ke
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Correspondence to Lian-tang Wang.

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Zun-fu Ke and Xiaopeng Mao have the same attribution to this article.

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Ke, Zf., Mao, X., Zeng, C. et al. AEG-1 expression characteristics in human non-small cell lung cancer and its relationship with apoptosis. Med Oncol 30, 383 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-012-0383-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-012-0383-9

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